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What do I say?

My DD is now 23.5 weeks old and my mom is our full time babysitter. EVERY TIME she wants to do something outside of her house w/ my DD I get a lecture about how convenient it would be to use formula and how she doesn't know what to do if my DD gets hungry while they are out. I feel like she's waiting for me to give the ok for her to use formula when absolutely necessary but I'm not going to. How can I make things easier for my mom and get her to stop making comments? I tell her to make sure she is fed before they leave the house but I get the feeling like this messes with her schedule too much and that it irritates her. My mom is otherwise supportive of BF.

Re: What do I say?

Breastmilk is good at room temperature and won't spoil for hours. So she can warm a bottle and take it with her. As long as baby drinks it in an hour or two, should be fine. You can't say that about formula.

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.

Re: What do I say?

Originally Posted by @llli*joe.s.mom

Breastmilk is good at room temperature and won't spoil for hours. So she can warm a bottle and take it with her. As long as baby drinks it in an hour or two, should be fine. You can't say that about formula.

This, exactly. How hard is it to pop bottle of breastmilk into the diaper bag?

Re: What do I say?

Our diaper bag has an insulated compartment for bottles. Maybe yours does, too? It could keep the bottle cool until your mother wants to use it.

There was one occasion when we were taking a long road trip and we decided to feed the baby in the car, so to warm up the milk (from the cooler) I held it between my thighs for a few minutes to take the chill off. If your daughter isn't too picky about temperature this might work.

BTW, when I first read the post I saw 23.5 and assumed months, so I was thinking "why does a nearly 2 year old need a bottle mid-day?!?" but then I snapped out of stupid mode and read it correctly.

Re: What do I say?

Even frozen and thawed milk should be good for a couple of hours. I wouldn't let it sit all day.

ETA: It was issues like this that made me realize that I could just pump, refrigerate, and use the milk the next day. I used the frozen only for "emergencies" and didn't freeze milk as part of my regular routine except before a long weekend.

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.

Re: What do I say?

It's fine if it's thawed and warmed up. Biggest risk there is that if the baby does NOT eat it and it's been warm & 6 hours has passed... then might need to toss it. But it's probably worth that small risk to let your mom go out & about!

Tell her to warm the milk to room temperature, and just take it with her in a coolie bag and use it whenever she is ready!

Does she want to be out more than 6 hours?

My husband has gone out with baby MANY times (he is stay at home dad) and either feeds the baby right before and then makes the best of it (for say a 1-hour grocery trip) or else he brings a coolie with a bottle of milk.

Note, at age 6 months the baby may not even need the milk to be some perfect temperature. As my first got older, he even had cold milk sometimes. and loved it :-)

Re: What do I say?

She could also just run the milk under warm water if she is somewhere with access to a faucet. My midwife said that BM is ok out of the fridge for 8 hours. But no longer. Don't do forumla if you can avoid it. There is no reason at all to.